LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011 898 633 7 



E 449 

W2S 
Copy 1 



FATHER WARD'S LETTER TO 
PROFESSOR STUART. 



The following letter was written to Professor Stuart 
on his letter to Dr. Fisk,in which he teaches, that the 
Bible sanctions slavery, and which he allowed him to 
publish, if he "thought it would be of any service " 
It was written without the least idea of ever having 
if published. But some worthy and devoted minister? 
who have seen it, expressed a wish that it might be 
given to the public. & e 

Some may think it severe. I am totally opposed to 
all harshness and undue severity. But the honor of 
God and of the Bible, is infinitely more important than 
the honor of any man. And when men of high stand 
ing in the church, and extensive influence, attempt to 
support from the Bible a system of flagrant injustice 
and wickedness, it seems to be proper to "rebuke 
them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith • 

7i!J in tt h t Q f t °/ eWiS t 1 fable L S ' and «»™*nimento 
of men, that turn from the truth." There is at this 

day a sad giving "heed to the commandments of men" 
which support slavery, and which leads many profes- 
ses and ministers to regard the fews of man as more 
binding than the laws of God, and to support a sys- 
tem whose laws forbid men to learn, or to be taught, 
to read (rod's laws, and his blessed word. 



Reverend Sir, 

vou' ^ ¥n} reI r tanCG that l 4 2 ke m y P en t0 address 
you And perhaps you may thmk it unbecoming in 

an obscure minister to address one so high in official 
standing and especially to call in question his expo- 
siions of the sacred oracles, and his assumed positions. 
But v, hen a person promulgates sentiments, and gives 
them to the public, they are public property, and ev- 
ery one has a right to animadvert upon them 

1 recently met with your letter to Dr. Fisk in 
which you make the Bible, and the God of the Bible 
sanc^n tne awful sin of Slavery, and which I read 
with surprise and grief. And as I am fully persuaded 
you have greatly "reproached your Maker," I feel 
cons rained to -speak on God's behalf," and vindicate 
his glorious name and blessed book from the foul re- 

fh^R.r / anC -' 0ning that ^ stem > which withhold, 
the Bible from immortal beings, and degrades them to 
the condition of beasts of burden, and mere property 
Foi your letter will be quoted by slave-holders, and 
he supporters of slavery, as authority to prove that 
the Bible, which condemns all kinds of injustice and 
oppression, does nevertheless sanction American Sla- 
very with all its abominations. And of what "ser- 
vice did you think its publication would be, except 
to serve the cause of slavery? Could you hink it 
would be « doing God service ?» If any have in a very 
small degree that spirit which led Elijah to say, "I 
have been very jealous for the Lord God of Hois " it 
seems as though they must be deeply affected to'see 
Ministers and Theological Professors, bringing rvs 
sacred good old book to authorize the making "mer- 
chandize of the souls of men," and that they must feel 
something of the indignation which Christ expressed, 
* hen the ancient ministers of the sanctuary « made 
nw homfe a house of merchandise." But which is the 

rh 1Sl i t °.? 1 , ake the material te mpie " a house of mer- 
enandi§e,» by selling sacrifices in it, or to make mer- 



- chandise of God's spiritual temple, and to attempt to 
^justify, by his own authority, the selling of those " for 
whom Christ died," and even those who " are the tem- 
^ple of the Holy Ghost?" 

But you admit that " the theory of slavery is not in 
itself right," and is contrary to the commands, Matt. 
22: 39, and 7 : 12, and yet say it is not malum in se, 
(an evil in itself.) Do you mean that it is not moral- 
ly right, nor morally wrong 9 But " the aluse of it," 
you say, " is the essential and fundamental wrong." 
This has always been the plea of rum-makers, rum- 
venders, and rum-drinkers, and their apologists, the 
opposers of thorough temperance movements. But I 
should like to know what that slavery is, the abuse of 
which only is a sin. And what is that Christianity 
which will destroy what it sanctions ? For you say, 
"Paul knew well that Christianity would ultimately 
ilestroy slavery." It is according to modern divines 
and theological professors, supported by the example 
of patriarchs and primitive christians, and the author- 
ity of Christ and his apostles, and of God himself, and 
yet Christianity will destroy it ! Christianity must cer- 
tainly have a wonderful power to destroy what is sup- 
ported by its own authority. Perhaps you will allege, 
that it only sanctions slavery, but not the abuse of it. 
You however say it will destroy slavery itself. And 
therefore it will destroy what it sanctions and supports. 
And you say " slaves were property in Greece and 
Rome. The power of the master over the slave was, 
for a long time, that of life and death. Horrible cru- 
elties at length mitigated it. In the Apostle's day, it 
was at least, as great as amortg us." And yet this is 
the very slavery which you suppose the Apostle sanc- 
tioned ! The holy Apostle and the Holy Ghost sanc- 
tioning a system of injustice and cruelty ! 

As well might you prove that he sanctioned Nero's 

tyranny and cruelty. "The manner in which the duty 

of servants or slaves is inculcated," says Dr. Wayland, 

' affords no ground for the assertion that it authorizes 



one man to hold another in bondage, any more than 
the command to honor the king, when that king was 
Nero, authorized the tyranny of the emperor." But 
perhaps you agree with Dr. Fisk and his Methodist 
brethren in their " Counter Appeal," that ' Christian- 
ity sustained the fabric (of Nero's despotism',) ' it for- 
bade the attempt at revolution.' 

Does your letter however contain any proof to sus- 
tain your assertions ? Or do they rest on mere assump- 
tions ? You take it for granted, that servants, 1 Tim. 
6:1, must mean slaves. For, if Paul included hired 
servants, then your foundation entirely fails. And 
now what proof have you adduced, that he did not in- 
clude them? None. And, to sustain yourself, you 
must prove, either that there were no hired servants, 
or else that doulos always means a slave ; both of which 
may be abundantly disproved. Paul says, " The heir, 
as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a ser- 
vant, (doulou,) though he be lord of all." You will 
not, I presume, contend that the child "though heir 
and lord of all, differeth nothing " from a bond servant 
or slave, and is held by his father as mere property. 
Paul calls himself the servant of Jesus Christ. Did 
he mean to teach that he was the slave of Jesus Christ, 
and that Jesus Christ was a slave holder ? Those whom 
he " makes free are free indeed." Christians are call- 
ed (douloi) servants of God, more than twenty times 
in the New Testament. And Paul styles himself and 
other ministers, the servants of christians. 1 Cor. 9 : 
19. 2 Cor. 4 : 5. Did he mean their slaves ? And he 
commanded them not to be the servants of men. — 
You will not surely say he meant slaves, as it would 
overthrow your scheme, because it would make him 
forbid them to be slaves. " Whosoever will be chief 
among you, let him be your servant, (doulos) slave ! 

But you will probably say, that yoke means the yoke 
of slavery. But how do you know ? It does not mean 
so in any other place in the New Testament. And 
it would be rather singular logic to say, therefore it 



■must mean so here. "Take my yoke upon you, for 
my yoke is easy." This is a voluntary and easy ser- 
vice, ' taken'' voluntarily. The ritual service, which is 
called a yoke, was voluntary. Acts 15 : 10. Gal. 5:1. 
See 2 Cor. 6 : 14. Phil. 4 : 3. Though Paul has giv- 
en directions to different members of families, as hus- 
bands and wives, parents and children, masters and 
servants, — yet, according to your unreasonable sup- 
position, there is one class, to wit, hired servants, whom 
he entirely overlooked. I would therefore read 1 Tim. 
6 : 12. " Let as many servants as are under the yoke 
of voluntary or bond service, &c." " And those vol- 
untary, or hired servants that have believing masters, 
&c." And this will entirely free the Apostle from 
the shocking imputation of sanctioning Grecian slave- 
ry, and the primitive christians from the charge of 
countenancing and supporting it, by their own exam- 
ple, and holding their fellow christians as their property. 

You are very confident, that Onesimus was the slave 
of Philemon, and that " Paul sent him back" into per- 
petual slavery, to be held in bondage by a Christian, 
and as his property, in violation of the great law of 
love, as you seem to admit, in referring to that law ! 
But where is your proof '? As Onesimus seems to have 
run away in debt, it appears much more rational to 
suppose, that he was a hired servant, and that he had 
keen paid in advance, or had borrowed money of Phil- 
emon. And in that case it would be highly proper 
for Paul to send him back. But he directed Philemon 
to "receive him not as a (common hired) servant, bin 
above a servant," and to treat him as " a beloved 
(christian) brother." It is astonishing to me, that yoa 
should adduce this admirable letter to justify Chris- 
tian slave holding. And no one, J think, would have 
done it, except to apologize for slave holding minis- 
ters and professors. 

You seem to tak<5 it for granted, that we have in 
Paul's epistles, all the instructions, which he gave the 
churches on slavery ; that he did not condemn it, and 
3 



slavery both with the dictates of humanity and reli- 
gion has been demonstrated, and is generally seen 
and acknowledged, to use their honest, earnest and un- 
wearied endeavors, as speedily as possible to efface 
this blot on our holy religion, and to obtain the com- 
plete abolition of slavery throughout Christendom, and 
if possible throughout the world." " The inconsisten- 
cy of slavery with religion has been demonstrated," 
contrary to the teachings of Paul, according to mod- 
ern Theological Professors. The Synod of Ken- 
tucky, in their Address on slavery in 1835, written by 
President Young, after giving a description of slavery, 
say, " And can any man believe that such a thing is 
not sinful — that it is not hated by God — and not to be 
abhorred and abolished by men ? a horrible system — 
such policy as the robber exhibits — a demoralizing 
and cruel system which it would be an insult to God 
to imagine that he does not abhor. The New Testa- 
ment does condemn slaveholding, as practiced among 
us, in the most explicit terms, furnished by the lan- 
guage in which the inspired penman wrote. And 
that it is sinful is as certain, as that the light of God's 
truth has shone upon our world. Can any Christian 
contemplate without trembling his own agency in per- 
petuating such a system ?" especially by writing in its 
defence . ? 

Rev. Dr. Hill, in the synod of Virginia in 1S35, said, 
"the relation of master and slave had its origin m in- 
justice and ivrong, and was never sanctioned in the Bi- 
ble." Mr. Maxwell said in the same synod, *' It \spre- 
poslerovs to go to the Bible to defend slavery. Its 
universal spirit is against the institution" — though* Dr. 
Baxter, professor of Union Theological Seminary^ 
" denied that the relation was unlawful, it was recog- 
nized by the Scripture. If it were not true, that the 
Bible sanctions the existing relations, then the aboli- 
tionists are right in their principle of immediate eman- 
cipation ; for if there be sin in the relation, its immedi- 
ate abandonment is a duty." %x. Hodge, a.nothes 



Theological Professor, says of slavery, " It is in vain 
to contend that it is sin, and yet profess reverence for 
the Scriptures ; though he says, the general principles 
of the gospel have destroyed domestic slavery through- 
out the greater part of Christendom, and that the 
South has to choose between emancipation by the si- 
lent and holy influence of the gospel, or abide the is- 
sue of a long continued conflict against the laws of 
God" — a conflict against the laws of God, in maintain- 
ing what the word of God sanctions. Is not the Bible 
"divided against itself?" The Synod of South Car- 
olina and Georgia, in 1834, in a Report on " the Reli- 
gious Instruction of the colored population" of the 
South, says " In this Christian Republic, there are 
over two millions of human beings, in the condition 
of Heathen, and, in some respects, in a worse condi- 
tion. From long continued and close observation, we 
believe that their moral and religious condition is 
such, that they may justly be considered the Heathen 
of this Christian country, and will bear comparison 
with Heathen in any country in the world." 

Rev. J. R. Breckenridge in 1834, described the 
masters as having such power over the slaves, as to 
" deprive them of the entire earnings of their own la- 
bor, except only so much as is necessary to continue 
labor itself, by continuing healthful existence, thus 
committing clear robbery ; to reduce them to the ne- 
cessity of universal concubinage — and encouraging uni- 
versal prostitution — abrogating the clearest laws of na- 
ture ; thus outraging all decency and justice, and de- 
grading thousands upon thousands of beings created 
like themselves in the image of the most high God." 
See the whole picture in the African Repository, Jan. 
1834, p. 326. And yet this is the system which you 
have attempted to defend from the Bible. Perhaps 
you will say you did not mean to defend such slavery. 
But can you lay your hand on your heart, and say be- 
fore God, that you did not design to defend American 



10 

slavery, but a slavery which now has no existence in 
the world ? 

Jefferson, speaking of slavery, said, " I tremble for 
my country » when I think that God is just, and that 
his justice will not always sleep." 

How deeply affecting, that an infidel should thus- ex- 
press his fears that a just God would inflict heavy 
judgments upon this nation for upholding slavery, and 
that our Theological Professors, who are training the 
future ministers of the Church, are teaching them, that 
the blessed book of God sanctions such a system of 
injustice, oppression, pollution and heathenism. 

I have not willingly written at such length, or with 
such freedom, or with any unkind feelings towards 
you, but, as I hope, from a concern for the glory of 
"the ever blessed God, and the honor of the Bible. I 
feel that your letter is calculated to do immense inju- 
ry, to discredit the Bible, and to make infidels,* and 
that you are " to be blamed" more than Peter was, 
when Paul " withstood him to the face," and reproved 
him " before all." 

It is inconceivably dreadful to sin against, and dis- 
honor the infinitely glorious God, and the gracious 
Savior of sinners. And it is strange, that Christians 
will do it. Yours. &c. 

JONATHAN WARD. 
Brentwood, N. H., Aug. 1837. 



*The Synod of Kentucky, in their report before referred to, 

say, " If any man can fairly show, that the Bible countenances 
such slavery as existed in the days of the Apostles, he would 
construct a more powerful argument against the diyine origin of 
our religion, than infidelity has ever invented. A religion which 
sanctions a system of atrocious cruelty can never have come 
down from Heaven." 



CHARLES WHIPPE, 
Bookseller, Newtouryport, 

— HAS FOR SALE — 

• 

Mrs. Child's Anti-Slavery Catechism. Also, her "Oasis," 
"Authentic Anecdotes of American Slavery," and " Appeal in 
Favor of that Class of Americans, called Africans." 

The Despotism of Freedom, a Speech by D. L. Child, Esq. 

C. Stuart's West India Question, showing the safety of im- 
mediate emancipation. 

President Edwards's Sermon on the Injustice and Impolicy 
of th» Slave Trade, and the Slavery of the Africans ; fourth 
edition. 

Rev. John Rankin's Letters to a Slave-holding Brother, on 
American Slavery. 

Rev. David Root's Fast Day Sermon, on Slavery. 

The Slave's Friend, a series of neat and interesting books for 
children, with engravings ; price one cent. , 

Rev. G. Bourne's Picture of Slavery in America, with en- 
gravings. 

Letters of Rev. Dr. S. H. Cox, and H. B. Stantoa, with a 
Speech of J. A. Thome, before the American Anti-Slavery 
Society. 

E. Wright's Sin of Slavery and its Remedy. 

The Negro's Friend, a series of English Tracts, -with engra- 
vings. 

Anti-Slavery Hymns, Cards and Handbjlls, in great variety. 

Birney's Letters on Colonization. 

An Address to the Presbyterians of Kentucky, proposing a 
Plan for the instruction and Emancipation of their Slaves, by a 
Committee of the Synod of Kentucky. 

Liberty Triumphant. Rev. David Root's Sermon before the 
Anti Slavery Society of Haverhill. 

Misses Grimke's Appeal to th§ Christian Women at the Spnth, 
Epistle to the Clergy, &c. 

Rev. H. Easton's treatise on the character of the Colored P«e- 
ple of the ..United States. 

George Thompson's Lectures and Debates. 

The Fountain, a small pocket manual containing a text for 
each day in the year, -with an appropriate Anti-Slavery senti- 
ment or fact. 

Anti Slavery Almanacs, at Wholesale and Retail. 

Annual Report of the Managers of the N. E. Anti-Slavery So- 
ciety. 

The Anti-Slavery Record, and American Anti- Slavery Re- 
porter, with ensjiavihgs. 

The Maryland Scheme of Expatriation examined. 
■ Eyils and Cure of Slavery," by Mrs. Child. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

i iiiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii mil IIIH lllll mil Hill mil II '"' 



li'iHir-iniiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiffliii'ii 

011 898 633 7 • 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011898 633 7 • 



